I am not a robot: how to shake the perception of being a machine at work

Have you ever been excluded from a meeting you felt you belonged in? Ever felt your web development or design skills are more useful to your company's bottom line than you are as a dedicated employee? Do your clients think that what you do is “magic” with no thought of the mind-boggling, hair-pulling problem solving you accomplished in just under an hour? Have you ever been called a "resource"? If so, this session is for you!

The web industry is made up of people with various levels of experience and specialized skills. We write in several languages, we make masterpieces with mice, we fix the unfixable, we’re the sorcerers making magic behind the most popular method of information retrieval in the world. But with these great things, we’re often taken advantage of in the workplace. We’re often regarded not as creative people with interests and ideas, but as pens and pads or buttons or tools to be utilized, pushed, recycled, stretched, or ignored. In some cases, what we do defines who we are, and we’re not even regarded as human.

In this session, you won’t learn how to tell your client, your boss, or your coworkers that you’re not another piece of technology they can click on or off as needed. Instead, we’ll talk about how to do a few key things for yourself that will broaden the way others think of your role in the workplace.

In this session you’ll learn how to make sure your position as a web professional is integral to all stages of web projects, even if your primary work seems to belong only at the beginning or end.

You’ll walk away with a few refreshing tips on how to be more visible, more engaged, and more influential at work, so that clients and those around you know that you’re not just a magic-making robot, but a human too.

All levels of experience are welcome.